<Begin Segment 6>

RP: And do you recall when your parents married?

SK: I'm going to say about 1934.

RP: You were born in '35, so...

SK: Yeah. It was pretty close. I think it was, you know, pretty close after they were married that I was born. I mean...

RP: Did you ever ask them how they met?

SK: Oh, I never did, but I think I found out. They were both pretty athletic during their teenage years. My mother was a very good basketball player and so was my dad. And I think that's how they met, through sports. I know Dad was good at basketball and he was also good at baseball. And I remember Mom telling me that she was very good at basketball with a two-hand shot. Because during those times, they didn't shoot the one hand basketball, it was always a two hand push or something. Anyway...

RP: A set shot.

SK: Right. That's how they met, through sports, right.

RP: And did they keep that up after they had kids?

SK: Well, Mom didn't, but Dad did. Dad played baseball.

RP: Was he on the Florin team?

SK: Yes. He was on the Florin team before the war, with the Florin... I don't know what their names were or anything, but they did have a Florin team that he played with. And then he played baseball when he was in camp, I remember that, too.

RP: At Manzanar?

SK: Right.

RP: There was a Florin team at Manzanar, too.

SK: Well, maybe that's what it was, but I remember he played on the Florin team here, and from what, you know, some of the people that knew him said he was pretty good at baseball.

RP: And do you know what position he played?

SK: I think I remember him playing first base one time in camp, but I do remember that he was a left-handed hitter. But he threw right-handed but he hit left. But as far as the positions go, I just, this one time I seem to remember him playing first base in Manzanar.

RP: Do you remember going to see him play games here in Florin?

SK: No. That was... see, I think that was when I was probably real small. I don't remember any of that. I remember seeing a picture of him with a team, that's it. I don't know where that picture went or anything.

RP: Do you recall or know where games were played in the Florin area?

SK: No, I have no idea.

RP: Yeah, they had a pretty good reputation, good baseball team. I mean, they also went, of course, Kirk was mentioning that the community of Florin got quartered up and went to four different camps, and it also started teams in other camps as well as Manzanar.

SK: Yeah, you know, he used to mention some... I don't know if they played with him, one person named Sloppy, another one named Bubbles... there was, you know, these funny nicknames that he used to play with. Oh, Soapy was another one. So...

RP: Did he ever acquire one?

SK: Not that I know of. If he did, we never knew about it.

RP: Maybe he didn't want you to.

SK: Maybe he didn't want us to know about it, I don't know. He never did mention that. But, you know, it was funny because these, some of these people that he knew after, even after we came back from New Jersey, he was in touch with them. And I'm pretty sure some of those were ex-playmates, baseball players. But that's about all I knew about baseball, I mean, athletic things.

RP: I asked you earlier about what you remember about your father. I want to ask you about what you remember most about your mother, her qualities, personality.

SK: You know, Mom had a real easy-going personality. She was always happy, she never got... I mean, really mad at us unless we really did something out of the ordinary. And she really had a good sense of humor for bring us, I mean, the thing I remember most about her was her, like I said, her sense of humor. I mean, she could really take a whole bunch of guff from us and still be happy-go-lucky. She was a very happy-go-lucky person. That's one of the biggest traits that I remember about her. I still marvel at how she could, you know, take care of seven of us. [Laughs] I don't know how she did it, really, because she was the main caretaker. You know, like I said, when Grandma and Grandpa weren't there, she was the one that went to, we all went to. Dad was kind of more standoffish. That male, I think there was still that male thing, you know, that Japanese custom.

RP: Stoic man, passed down from the Issei.

SK: Yeah, right.

RP: Do did you inherit some of that happy-go-lucky?

SK: I think I did. I think all of us kids did. Really, you know, out of seven of us, I think we all have a pretty good sense of humor. I mean, we have our bad times, too, but I think we're all the same way. We kind of tried to look at the positive side of things. We even look at our experience at Manzanar kind of on a positive thing. I don't know if it didn't happen, I don't know what would have happened to us. But we all seemed to have came out pretty well for what happened to us. If we had stayed at the farm, I don't know what would have happened. If the war didn't break out, I don't know what would have happened, but I think most of us, in fact, all of us, seven of us kids, don't have any regrets of what happened to us.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.